Introduction
The Amazon forest remains unassailable even though there are now several ways and routes to approach it and to some of the sites that represent the bounty of its nature and the wildlife that densely inhabits inside it. That mystery that involves its difficult penetration is maybe one of the greatest charms of the most biodiverse zone in the face of earth that covers about seven million square kilometers of land area, of which about 109,000 belong to the department of Amazonas.
The magnitude of this region is also based on the swift passage of the Amazon river, the longest and abundant river in the world with 6,800 Kilometers of flowing water. Precisely this magnificent river is the most used route to reach some of the main and most beautiful natural settings, where the wild party in conjunction with indigenous communities that inhabit the forest represent the value of this treasure of national and global geography.
Just as the huge Amazon River which Banks are not divisible in some sections, is the flora, and fauna inventory that among the ethnic groups inhabits the region. There is an approach through the Amazon and some of its tributaries, but the jungle remains a mystery that bounces its more strange sounds when most of the beings that live inside it feel confident enough to go out due to the intruder absence, while the stranger or the expeditionary, protected under its awning wonders how many surprises will there be inside that immeasurable landscape. Nothing more pleasant and convenient than a tourist lodge to approach the wonderful experience.
CLIMATE
Characteristic of tropical rainforest, the weather in the department of Amazonas reaches an average temperature of 27 º C, with a maximum of 32 º C and a minimum of 20 º C in the shade. It is a highly rainy area with a maximum rainfall of 3.400mm3 a year and a relative humidity of 92%.
LOCATION
The department of Amazonas is located on the southern tip of Colombia, bounded on the east by the Republic of Brazil, on the south and west with the Republic of Peru, on the north with the departments of Caquetá and Vaupes and on the northwest with the department of Putumayo .
CULTURE AND TRADITIONS
The Amazon has an estimated population of sixty thousand inhabitants, its main concentration occurs in the city of Leticia, where close to forty thousand people mainly of the huitoto, yagua, cocama and ticuna indigenous ethnics inhabit, this last one being the one with the largest presence in the communities settled throughout the Amazon River.
The Huitotos are concentrated between the 6th and 10th kilometer of the route from Leticia to the village of Tarapacá. They live in small reservations left behind their moving into the departments of Putumayo and Caqueta. In the Huitoto families, exogamy is the main marital system, being it that couples are made up of members who are not related at all to each other. This community maintains its beliefs, traditions and a great respect for nature. Men usually Mambea while women are cooking and taking domestic chores.
Mambear is to chew a powder made out of dried coca and yarumo leaves mixed with ambil which is a tobacco extract. They do this to search for solutions to their problems, to educate and to be happy. They live in MALOCAS being those at the same time the ceremonial centers in which their dances and rituals take place. They live out of fishing and of what their CHAGRAS (little pieces of land to crop) produce.
The Ticunas are located in Leticia, Puerto Nariño and stationed in communities along the Amazon. Despite the fact of being in contact with settlers and had left behind some of their customs, there are some indigenous groups that keep some of their tradition as a way of transmitting the new generations the essence of their origins; represented in the native language, dances, costumes, rituals and beliefs.
For instance some Ticuna families still celebrate the PELAZON being the happening of the first menstrual cycle of a woman when she is isolated from the rest of the community by her family while her father goes to search for MASATO and food to offer to the guests during the ceremony to honor his girl.
At this ceremony which main goal is to wish good fortune to the young woman, she gets her whole body painted black with a dye extracted from a fruit called Huito. The native belief states that celebrating this ceremony helps the girl to get rid of deceases and to give her luck to find her soul mate.
On special nights, the ticuna community meets to perform typical dances recreating moments of their daily life such as the fish and vulture dances. To these performances they wear typical costumes made out of natural fibers like yanchama which is extracted of a tree, the huitoto dyes, achiote and saffron. The bijouterie such as collars and crowns are decorated with animal feathers and fangs just as well as with seeds like the soap tree and saint peter tears tree seeds.
Festivities and events. The indigenous traditions take place within communities, but are also recreated in some of the most important festivities of the department of Amazonas. Leticia usually celebrates in the month of November the Festival of the golden Pirarucú (fish from the Amazon river) or International Amazonia Music Festival, which in addition to promoting the respect for natural resources and conservation of this particular fish from the Amazon, highlights the artistic and cultural values of communities integrating the region.
In Puerto Nariño it is of a great relevance to celebrate the holly week and the annual foundation festivities taking place on the first day of April. This is a recently created municipality founded on April the 1st 1984. At the same municipality the indigenous Olympic Games take place every November, the farmer´s day in june and the dance, storytelling and street bands meet in december.
CRAFTS
The craftsmanship of the indigenous communities of the Amazon is a representation of their natural environment and the reality in which they develop. Additionally, the raw materials are extracted precisely from the environment to shift into its most elaborated replica. In places like the Macedonia community the blood three Wood is transformed mainly into animals. Snakes, frogs and turtles are part of the perfectly achieved fauna´s craft work. The Ticunas are also skilled in making bracelets, necklaces and bijouterie out of natural fibers like yanchama and chambira combined with seeds of native trees, feathers and animal fangs, the colorful indigenous work is due to the use of natural dyes, including huito, achiote and saffron.
GASTRONOMY
Fish is the main source of food not only in the city of Leticia, but in all the communities and townships in the region. The huge pirarucu, which international fishing prohibition goes between the months of November and March, is perhaps the most desired fish, along with the different varieties of catfish taken from the Amazon River and its tributaries.
Besides fish the huitotos traditional food is complemented with frog legs, ants, chilies, stews, drinks like caguana and guarapo de chontaduro, and the various preparations derived from cassava, including the cassava (a kind of corn cake) and fariña which is a kind of flour.
The Ticunas have a particular recipe for cooking fish called the patarasca, which means to marinate and wrap it in banana leaves before grilling it. Some other traditional dishes are the fish porridge, ground cassava and plantain, la chonta (a wild meat stew), mashed cassava and chontaduro salad.
The main courses usually go with candy and juices from the many and diverse fruits from the region. The arazá, camucamu, copoazú, chestnuts, macambo and star fruit are some of the rare and delicious fruits.
HOW TO GET THERE
From the inside of Colombia, the easiest way to get there is through a flight Bogota - Leticia which takes about an hour and 45 minutes. By water it is possible to get there from Puerto Asis trough the Putumayo and Amazon Rivers. From Iquitos (Peru) there are speed boats that will take about 12 hours to go to the Peruvian island of Santa Rosa located in front of Leticia. From Manaus (Brazil) there are fast ships that will take about 34 to 36 hours to Tabatinga which is the small Brazilian town bordering Leticia. There are also flights from Manaus to Tabatinga that take about two hours.
Attractives
There are many charms that the jungle allows us to appreciate and many others that should remain inscrutable for the welfare of the ecosystem and of the world´s health, that off course if we want to preserve the most biodiverse region of the planet owner of about 20% of the fresh water and 30% of the animal and vegetal life of the world.
To the travelers and nature lovers luckily, there is a good number of places of the Amazon region that can be accessed and from them it is easy to dimension how big will the wonderful wild inventory hiding further away in the thousands and thousands of kilometers of huge and leafy forests.
The Amazon River
After the oceans and seas, the Amazon river which until recently was thought to be the most abundant of the world is not only so but also the longest one, the widest and the deepest of all the rivers in the world. The river is simply colossal, and to navigate it at times may be disconcerting, as its waters seem to be the ocean when you cannot see the shore on the other side.
Born in the Mismi snow mountain in the department of Arequipa in Peru at 5,600 meters over the sea level and empties into the north of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean near the island Marajó. Of its 6.800 km of length it goes by 116 km in Colombia with a whole bunch of attractions on its shores and in many corners of the huge basin that reaches more than 7-million square kilometers in the whole south american continent.
Leticia
It is the capital of the department of Amazonas and the main Colombian harbor on the immense river. It has about 40 000 inhabitants, mainly being indigenous. Although the city is small it has an adequate infrastructure for utilities, transportation, restaurants and health.
Part of the attractions in Leticia are the Orellana and Santander´s parks, being the first of them located very close by the shopping area and the traditional market where you can get all the exotic and nutritious fruits of the Amazon, the second, the Santander´s park is where the departmental an municipal government buildings are located along with the cathedral of our lady of peace.
Above, the tree tops of these parks are the favorite place for hundreds of little parrots that daily bustle when they get there in the afternoons looking for a refugee and at the sunrise when going out to search for food.
Leticia is a place to see by walking or taking a motorcycle ride, in that way you can get to the river shore walkway along one of the Amazon River coves. There it stands the monument to the legendary Kapax, a character who is a hero and a symbol of this Colombian region thanks to his swimming skills and his work for the environment preservation.
Monilla Amena
This is a mainly huitoto community who from inside the mysticism that involves their traditions and beliefs, warmly welcome the visitors to invite them to share the world where they live. They are located north from Leticia on the 9th kilometer of the way heading to the township of Tarapaca. The natives live in their malocas and live out of agriculture, fishing and touristic attention to visitors.
To highlight their activities, the community created the "etnoecoturistico monifue amena center. That runs in the main maloca of the reservation, where with the community consent you can be a spectator of their ceremonies and paint workshops where they apply natural paintings. Besides the cultural exchange with this ethnic group this is a proper place to take jungle walks and canoeing on the Tacana river.
Several tourist lodges inspired by indigenous malocas hosted by members of the huitoto community can help you enjoy tour stay and get closer to the jungle landscapes and also with a coulture that settled very closet o the capital of the department of Amazonas. For further information please contact. Absalón Arango Cel. 314 202 77 35 email: agomez092009@hotmail.com
San Juan del Socó
About 200 people of the ticuna ethnic group inhabit the village of Loretoyacu located on the river near the town of Puerto Nariño. Dedicated to chagras and fishing, the members of this community have been working on an ecotourism project that also involves tourists with knowledge of the ticuna cultural heritage through dances, food, crafts and recognition of the jungle.
There it is possible to stay in cabins that the natives themselves manage and where it is possible to take a tour around the main attractions that surround the place in their company, either by taking guided walks through the jungle or on board small boats by the Loretoyacu River to the Soco lake. En este plácido viaje se aprecian diferentes clases de árboles, plantas y aves. In this peaceful trip different kinds of trees, plants and birds are appreciated. Fishing is one of the recommended activities in this place, where with luck and patience you can catch species of the size of the sleeper, the tucunareca, the carauazó and pirarucu, this last one, between the months of july and august.
To get there you should take a public boat in the port of Leticia heading to the town of Puerto Nariño. This will take about two hours. There, the innkeepers of San Juan del Soco will be waiting to transport the visitors across the Loretoyacu River, on a short trip of about 15 minutes.
Living with this community is closer to the cultural value of a people struggling not to be changed by colonization. For further information please contact.. Giovanni Ramos. Phone number. (098) 5208687. Soraya Ramos Cel. 314 2817754. Jenny Torres Cel. 311 2577691.
Tanimboca Reservation
A 30-hectare ecological reservation on the road to Tarapacá in which they perform conservation work and adventure tourism practices characterized by the respect and contemplation of the environment. Tree climbing, canopy, jungle treks, kayaking on the Yahuarcaca creek , fishing, animal watching and serpentarium, are some activities to develop in this exotic environment.
The canopy takes place in several sections along the highest part of the trees this activity allows the traveler a unique adventure of vertigo and total contact with nature, it will also allow the visitor to get a better view of the protected wildlife in Tanimboca. If the person living the experience of the canopy is not willing to descend from this fascinating world, the place has cabins to stay on top of trees.
Part of the wildlife that inhabits this region is seen in the reservation serpentarium, home to a huge boa and other kinds of reptiles, as well as a crocodile and several species of frogs. Before undertaking the wild hiking trails, wildlife experts will teach participants to know the different snakes that inhabit the area. Likewise, it gives an induction on the precautions to be taken during the tours. For further information please contact. Tel. (8) 5925973. Cel. 310 8279412 / 311 2043532 / 313 4160480
Victoria Regia, Tourism Reserve
A few kilometers away from Leticia, on the Amazon River, there is a place with the gentleness that brings the water Lillie, the world´s largest lotus flower, which huge leaves with white flowers resting on calm waters of lakes, reaching diameters of up two meters.
At the site, there is a restaurant and there is also a collection of Heliconias, along with some other attractions including the rubber, cedar and huito plantations and taking preservation actions to decrease the environmental impact over one of the icons of the Amazonic nature. The Victoria Regia. For further information please contact. Pedro Galdino Cel. 320 8339053.
Monkeys Island
An exotic setting of 450 hectares with an estimated population of about five thousand monkeys of four different species. Especially the friar monkeys, performing their fast and fun parade through the trees branches when they notice the presence of a visitor to feed them.
The existence of this reserve located a half hour away from Leticia on the Amazon River and in front of the village of Santa Sofia, is due to an American businessman that back in the sixties conceived an environment in which monkeys and reptiles could develop freely.
In addition to the sighting of wildlife, this place offers other activities within the forest including hiking, canopy, rafting and climbing trees. Besides the Ticunas have a store where they sale their crafts mainly made out of blood tree wood and Chambira.
Amacayacu National Natural Park
Created as a park in 1975, this reserve covers an area of 293,500 hectares providing a natural habitat to the freshwater turtle, the largest crocodile and the smallest monkey of the planet: the little Lion Titi. Additionally, about one-tenth of the park is inhabited by six indigenous communities of the Ticuna ethnic group.
Within the park facility, it offers lodging in bunk beds and private rooms, and four main tourist activities that provide climbing to the can tree tops, canoeing in the Matamata Creek, River dolphins watching and hiking through the jungle paths .For further information please contact. In Bogotá Concesión Aviatur Línea nacional 01 900 3312222 Reservas (1) 3821616. In Leticia Decameron Tel. (8) 5222890.
Tarapoto Lake
A quiet place characterized by its dark waters and located 15 minutes from the municipality of Puerto Nariño. The main attraction of the lake is the presence of pink and gray Dolphins which don´t show themselves much when going out to the surface but allow their permanent observation during certain times of the day. To swim in the lake is relaxing and could be memorable if you are lucky enough to be accompanied by a Dolphin.
Puerto Nariño
It is the second city in the Amazon founded in 1984 reached from Leticia by the Amazon River to the mouth of the Loretoyacu River, after two hours of sailing. Puerto Nariño is composed by a few and clean streets with concrete trails and colorful houses in wich the Wood is the main element.
Given its steep position and the order of its streets, Puerto Nariño is known as the manger of the Colombian Amazon, a destination with a museum that displays some of the indigenous traditions and a viewpoint that provides a 360 degree view of the Amazon jungle.
Indigenous Communities
More than thirty indigenous communities are stationed along the left bank of the Amazon and some of its tributaries. Yaguas Cocamas and especially Ticunas are the inhabitants of the villages between Leticia and Puerto Nariño. To visit some of these groups and participate in their activities, are experiences that will make of a real and unforgettable expedition to the Amazon.
In the Municipality of Puerto Nariño along with several other communities the Ticoya, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Tarapoto, Santa Teresita, Nuevo Paraiso and San Martín de Amacayacu communities are located. This last one is reached by the Amacayacu river or through the jungle paths from Puerto Nariño and the Amacayacu national natural park , with a previous approval, it is possible to visit the community and the installation of camps for people willing to spend one or more nights there.
Communities like Mocagua, Macedonia and El Vergel Belong to the city of Leticia. Macedonia is one of the more prestigious places for crafts made out of blood tree Wood and the Chambira as raw materials.
